Delray To `Scrutinize` Golf Course Eatery

June 4, 1986|By Joseph Schwerdt, Staff Writer

DELRAY BEACH -- A petition signed by about 200 golfers complaining about conditions at the municipal golf course restaurant prompted the City Council Tuesday night to order an investigation into the restaurant`s operation.

While golfers say the restaurant is clean and the food is good, they claim they have been treated rudely by restaurant lessees Jim and Toni Brez and their employees.

Golfers say they have boycotted the restaurant and they submitted the petition last week asking that the lease with the Brezes be terminated.

Council members Marie Horenburger and Richard Dougherty and Mayor Doak Campbell asked City Attorney Herb Thiele to analyze the lease to see if it has been violated.

``When you get complaints from 200 people, it bears scrutiny,`` Horenburger said.

A preliminary review of the contract indicates the Brezes have not violated the terms of their contract, Thiele said.

Leo A. Fox, the Brezes` attorney, defended his clients` record and said terminating the lease in midstream would set a bad precedent.

Fox said his clients have always made their lease payments either on time or days early, and they`ve passed all health inspections.

``It is necessary to promulgate certain rules when you`re running a restaurant,`` Fox said. ``I think certain people have a hard time understanding those rules.``

But golfers said they are not as upset with the rules as with the way they are enforced. Golfers say they have been treated rudely and that employees use foul language. About 20 golfers who attended Tuesday`s meeting seemed pleased with the city`s action.

``They are going to pursue this, and that`s all I was looking for,`` said Rance Plume, a member at Delray Beach Municipal Golf Course. ``I`m happy they are going to look into it.``

``Just the fact that you have so many names on a petition indicates that people feel very strongly about what`s going on,`` said Jeanette Slavin, president of the Rainberry Bay Homeowners Association. ``There`s a serious problem, and it`s been going on for a long, long time.``

Council member Malcolm Bird and Vice Mayor Jimmy Weatherspoon opposed the investigation, saying the matter would take care of itself. If patrons were so displeased with the operation of the restaurant, the lessees would be the ones who suffer, they said.

``If all these people signed this petition and people have stopped going to the restaurant, then the operators will be crawling to us to get out of the lease,`` Weatherspoon said.

But a majority of the council agreed to pursue the matter. They asked Thiele to ``scrutinize`` the restaurant`s lease and operations and return in several weeks with a full report. They also asked that the Brezes be informed of specific charges by the golfers.